Samsung Predicts AI-Driven Memory Shortage to Persist Until 2028
Samsung Electronics has predicted that the memory chip shortage will worsen in 2027, with supply constraints expected to last until at least 2028 due to surging AI-driven demand. Major AI laboratories are already sharing mid-to-long-term demand forecasts with Samsung to secure sufficient memory supply. This prolonged shortage is a double-edged sword that boosts semiconductor revenues but drives up component costs, forcing major tech companies like Samsung and Apple to raise consumer prices for devices like smartphones and laptops. It highlights how the AI infrastructure boom is directly impacting the broader consumer electronics market. To mitigate the memory industry's traditional "boom-and-bust" cycle, Samsung is prioritizing long-term contract customers to better deploy production equipment and expand capacity. Meanwhile, rising component costs have already led to price increases for Samsung's Galaxy devices and Apple's MacBooks and iPads.
## BACKGROUND
Modern AI models require massive computational power, leading to a bottleneck known as the "memory wall," where data transfer speeds between the processor and memory limit overall performance. To overcome this, hardware manufacturers rely heavily on advanced memory technologies like High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) and DDR5, sparking a massive demand supercycle that outpaces current manufacturing capacities.